Community interpreting is a field in rapid expansion around the world. Training programs need to keep pace. This workbook contains activities, exercise and role plays for the training and education of community and medical interpreters. It supports the definitive textbook on this topic: The Community Interpreter®: An International Textbook.

Authored by six credentialed specialists, this workbook can be used in both in universities and colleges or basic training programs. Educators who need interactive activities focused on interpreter skills building and decision-making will grasp the quality of this work. Interpreters who seek self-study materials will find these activities easy to follow, whether working alone or with “study buddies.”

The core audience for this workbook is community and medical interpreters and their trainers and educators. The activities center on medical, educational and social services interpreting. Legal interpreting is also addressed.

The exercises here provide opportunities for practice, discussion and insight. Following a carefully articulated pedagogical flow designed for entry-level or early-intermediate programs, the activities are engaging and practical. Because this workbook will be used extensively for medical interpreter education, every activity, exercise or role play that includes non-medical content is immediately followed by a pedagogically equivalent activity with all-medical content.

As a support for an entry-level curriculum, the workbook and its companion textbook ensure that The Community Interpreter® program can be taught anywhere in the world. The activities will be of value both to interpreters new to the field and those who have practiced interpreting for years. Since many countries lack a professional code of ethics for community interpreters, all ethics activities are based on either the sample code of ethics at the beginning of the textbook or (for medical interpreters) the National Code of Ethics for Interpreters in Health Care developed by the U.S.-based National Council on Interpreting in Health Care.

This workbook shows community interpreters not only what to do but how to perform at a professional level. Above all, they offer practice in simple decision-making tools to help interpreters adapt their new knowledge and skills to the daily realities of a complex field.

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Review of this publication and its accompanying textbook The Community Interpreter: An International Textbook: